PREGAME NOTES: Pagan finally gives in to bumps and bruises; Sandoval gets day to clear head

It’s pretty hard to hide an injury in a 162-game season, especially when you start slumping. Public pressure might mount for some guys. They would admit that something is wrong, that there’s a reason they’re hitting .200 recently or made a couple errors in the field. But Angel Pagan has a bit of a different mindset. It’s a boxing mindset for Pagan, a huge fight fan who sits ringside at Manny Pacquiao fights.

Pagan denied over and over again during a midseason slump that a stomach muscle issue was worse than he was letting on. Yet you could see that something was wrong. He hit .245 in June and .210 in July, and admitted today that the muscle issue bothered him for quite a few weeks in the middle of the summer.

Pagan was even more secretive about a cut on his left hand, one that he’s had since the beginning of spring training. He played through it, but with the Giants six games up in the division, Pagan finally decided to take a day. Two, really, since the Giants are off tomorrow.

“It’s just about looking at the long run,” he said.
In this case that means the postseason. Probably. Pagan is a physical player and his aim now is to get back near 100 percent. He said the cut, which developed after a callous split, has felt like a persistent paper cut on a finger on his left hand. It’s been painful at times, but Pagan has played 135 of 142 games.

“We’re trying to get it to close up and we think giving him a break today and tomorrow should clear it up,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “This should calm it down.”

The Giants once had two outfielders in their lineup who were going to be free agents. Melky Cabrera left in a cloud of controversy. Pagan, on the other hand, has played through (at least) two injuries and had a 1.003 OPS in August to help make up for Cabrera’s absence. Could be an interesting offseason for the Giants and Pagan. He’s 31 but keeps himself in phenomenal shape and has produced enough to earn a multi-year deal. With Cabrera likely out of the picture, you can bet the Giants will do what they can to bring Pagan back.

— Pablo Sandoval is also off today, but for a much different reason. Bochy said Sandoval was getting a bit of a mental breather after a rough stretch at the plate and in the field.

“I talked to Pablo and told him that’s the plan, to give him a break and back off,” Bochy said. “He’s been pressing. This will give him a couple of days to get away. He’s fighting it and it’s starting to mount up on him in terms of trying too hard.

“Sometimes you get the guy away to get him to relax and have fun. It hasn’t been a lot of fun for him the last couple of days.”

Sandoval was on the MLB Network today and they showed some highlights from last year. Henry Schulman made a good point: It’s amazing how free and easy his swing was when he was crushing the ball at times last season. That’s what he’s got to get back to.

— No rain, no tarp at Coors Field. Just baseball. For updates during the game, you can follow me on Twitter: @AlexPavlovic. That’s generally the first place you’ll get Ryan Theriot Slap updates.

Post navigation

Maybe the infield won’t play like a WalMart parking lot with the rain.

El Camino de mi perro esta nublado

Clear your plato, not your cabeza Paul!

Richard in Winnipeg

Actually glad Pablo getting a break. Want our defence to be on top of its game for Tim. It would be great opportunity to get the sweep.
Dodgers sending Harang out to face Cahill.
Cahill lifetime is 3 – 0 against Dodgers with 2.40 era
Harang is 3 – 7 with 3.10 era.
Slight nod to Cahill

ClutchUp

Foothills: Spahn was 42 and Juan was 25. Spahn’s last HR pitch to Mays in the bottom of the 16th.

McCovey hit a HR in the B9th that seemed to go out in fair but was called foul.

Also, we get dayoff tomorrow; and Dodgers starting 4 games at home with the Cards who are up 1 games in the wildcard over the Dodgers. That should be a real fight this weekend.
Then Dodgers out east against Nationals and Reds, MMM good stuff.

“We’ve been going okay like this and I don’t know if it’s the time to start changing things,” Bochy said. “We’re in a good position and you want to keep some continuity. (Sandoval) had an off night but you hopefully come back tomorrow with a little vengeance.”

What changed? Bochy was asked a Q on Pablo, after his BS answer, he pulled his head out of his rear and realized how poorly Sandoval had been playing.

Bochy is more out of it than me on Codeine! He’s not on top of things at all. He is 98% reactionary. It will be a miracle if the Giants win another World Series in spite of him.

chikentorta

Could sure use nady back. With pagan out maybe that puts belt in left tonight but there’s still a gaping hole left from Melky that the giants decided didn’t need to be filled. Big game tonight as every win is huge. Pads are on fire right now. Go get em gmen. Lets go Timmy

Funny how the above quotes by Bochy are vanilla compared to Kuiper’s thoughts on what the Pablo plan is. The comcast crew is laying in on Pablo big time. No way that is done without Baer’s approval. Of course, Bochy has not read the memo, yet.

ClutchUp

Calm down, Bochy’s also on Codeine….. That’s why he’s been a skipper for so many odd years and you’ve been THE Wisdom Cow.

There’s room for “bof” of “yous-guys”.

You should know the media talk is mostly 90% drivel. Imagine if TWC had to listen to some of Casey Stengels talks with the scribes 8)

Cow, you’re gonna win a free ticket on Marty’s Trip to Cabo in Nov and you’ll end up at Bochy’s table …. can’t wait … all expenses paid …. you can even bring the 75lb dog and call her Big Head right in front of BB15

Richard in Winnipeg

I like the fact we are 6 up and have much to be thankful for this season.

dgg

Hearing this, I’m even more impressed with Pagan and his work ethic. I was thinking this morning: Pagan has become a Giant this season.

@544pm who did YOU want leading off? PLease Note:Fowler: Top spin line drives hit right @ the CF are the toughest in baseball dearest wan8iv…

wan8iv

With that double by Crawford they really did maximize this inning

SuperDuper

Ouch! 😯

wan8iv

CU LOL why on earth r u taking up for the Rockies? He got a horrible jump on Posey’s ball and Cargo drifted back last nite and I’m really happy that they did

SuperDuper

Did we just get through the whole batting order in the first inning!!!!!!!!!

GO GIANTS!

2Fold

Its so painfully obvious that Pablo is just no good when he weighs this much. See 2010. Bochy will never do it, but the regular line up should be Posey 1B Belt LF Sanchez C and Arias 3rd. It’s worth a look for awhile with fatboy not being able to see his shoes

wan8iv

And CU I figured someone was complaining about Blanco not just leading off but even playing in this game from all the complaining that everyone does about Blanco

The Tourist

Man… poor Hector. Kid gets beat up every game he starts. When it’s not Timmy it’s a knee to the sternum.

You know what would be nice though? Blanco catching fire from now till the end of the season. I’ll take that.

The Tourist

Timmy’s got a live fastball and he’s pitching it to the glove in this first inning, but the off-speed stuff is erratic. Exactly opposite of his last few starts. Go figure.

wan8iv: Foothills posted a link earlier to a nice piece about Blanco arguing that he’s very underrated as a Giant. I hate seeing Angel out of there, but I’m always glad to see Blanco. I enjoy watching him play and am really hoping he gets going again. He’s fun to watch on the basepaths and in the outfield. Not to mention that he seems (from his blog) like a thoughtful, humble, sweet-natured young man.

Wan8iv, I a fan of good baseball first. I like to see baseball players play the game the right way. Here ya go = Ask around = Cargo did not play Belts slicing line drive wrong or incorrectly nor did he lack hustle. He was playing WAY OVER in left center field. Review the highlight or just ask around…

Where is Ray83 from cscBaggs, says 28 is very over rated. Posey is the Turn Key for what we’ve done to date so far!

Stan

Pence must have fantastic peripheral vision with those wide eyed peepers. He reminds of those Madagascar nocturnal primates..I bet when he goes to the zoo, people throw mealworms at him to see if he eats them.

Dgg: your pitch count was correct + he got himself back on trak with an efficient fourth…

pacman68

Let’s see all the way that Bud Selig has destroyed baseball.

— Ignoring Steroids and pretending to be dumb about it.
— Canceling the World Series
— The All Star Game is tied.
— The All Star Game decides home field advantage.
— Interleague play. The Reds open with the Angeles next year. WTF?
— Braun not banned for 50 games.
— Moving the Astros to the American League when it should be the Brewers.

AM I MISSING ANYTHING?

I HATE SELIG MORE THEN BOCHY.

Lefty

dgg @ 7:01: Now THAT was funny. “Either of you”?

Blanco glides in the outfield. Did you see that route? Thing of beauty. Fun to watch.

pacman68

How is Tracy still have a job with this stupid rotation that is not working? If I was a Rockies fan I probably would be put in jail for how many televisions I’ve thrown through my neighbors window.

dgg

Lefty,

Oops. I didn’t mean split personality. I meant if CU took TWC up on the bet. That’s what “either of you” means.

Bernard

Am I the only one that notices that Arias swings at the first pitch just about every time these days? Why don’t opposing team scouts note this and pitch accordingly? I think when he went on a tear, 1/2 his hits were first pitch hits. Today, again, his two hits are first pitch hits. Then again, maybe teams did adjust which is why he hasn’t been as hot lately.

Footy, smile you do make me. 2013=Sandoval @ 3b = Posey catching. Say did you here about Youk? White sox changed starting time so that Youk could honor Jewish holy day. Ozzie when he was there never knew what that meant.

wan8iv

have the Giants ever heard of add on runs? they are in Coors I hope they know. as I was typing this a Double by Crawford, this guy is getting better and better

wan8iv

What a great idea of moving Posey to 3B, he was a SS in college and he is quick even though he’s not fast. great idea Foothills Ryan

wan8iv

did Blanco look scared on that bunt attempt? not a very good AB by Blanco that’s for sure, that’s why if anyone was wondering why he was the leadoff hitter had a right to wonder.

This one strikes my fancy as a ripple-effect lineup which could dance the Octalina should Blanco reach base in the First. Seems a bunch of us have been the five blind men in India attempting to describe an elephant as each was feeling a different portion of the big guy’s being. OK, so the emblematic elephants are across the Bay; but the sensing by a near-consensus of the posters on this blog of a lineup gone gargantuan…

This one starts out fast, dancing off first while the professional batter is at the plate. Nervous pitcher already, particularly as Pagan Baby is taking his heft-whacks in the On Deck Circle. Things get even more dire for opposing pitchers after whatever happens from the second and third hitters. Now we’re tokkin CLEANUP ~MVP. Top OBP in the league. Third in BA, top five in OPS. Monster Movie.

Things go really whacky when the Enforcer strides to the plate in ground-consuming strides ~ one of those Texas-sized-styled hybrids between a baby giraffe and a very adult ostrich. Think you seen Texas. Think Again. This one sometimes strides like a whooping crane with added DNA from a centipede.

Now we come to the Fatboy Phun part. Don’t laugh Amigos, this guy is Kid Vicious at a luau. When he hits it hard, it goes Faaaaar. Like that second Texan he likes batting with ducks on the pond, but when he’s part of a parade and not expected to take life too serious the big boy is a Giant at heart and loves to party on.

When it comes to terminating the string, you need a pretty quick crawl and a pretty magical transformation from a Troll’s delight early in the season into a force on the field and a threat to run out the parade at the plate.

Can you imagine a lineup catching an inning where 1-8 are safe at 1B or beyond? Sometimes successful lineup construction is simply a matter of applied configuration.

736 what movie are you watching? Blanco set the tone for the entire game wis leadoff triple. He is 2 for 4 + a nice running catch? You are amazing…

Foothills Ryan

Nice work stick.

Angel “The Centaur” Pagan has been an engine of offensive creation at leadoff. Don’t mess with it. Blanco has the potential to do some nice things batting 7th or 8th.

Lefty

Blanco’s had a fine game–2 hits, a leadoff triple, a run scored, and a beautiful catch in the right-center gap. So what if he didn’t get it done that one time? Scoots picked him up. That’s what a team does. Blanco stepped into Angel’s spot when Angel needed a day and has done great.

Oracle, thinking that they want Casilla in for more than one batter and pitchers spot is coming up soon and now Christian is in that spot…

NoKiddin

Please. No Affeldt tonite

2Fold

Do what it takes to win. So do not put Affeldt in. He is the worst pitcher in that pen and should not be on the playoff roster. But he will be. The Bork way.

Lefty

Like I said, it’s very, very fun to watch Blanco play CF. That was outstanding.

Baldy: Given the time of year and the Giants having a cushion, I’m fine with the starters having shorter outings right now. 14 guys in the bullpen. Use ’em, clinch the division, and set up a nice rested rotation for the playoffs!

pacman68

It’s been 2 days and I’m still laughing at WISDOM COWS Purple Dinosaur remark.

Hands down the best post of the season!

totalfan62

Blanco! Don’t think I’ve seen anyone this year go back on deep fly balls better than Blanco. Fowler for Rox last night is very good, Sharkplug a notch above that. Loved the way he looked off the ball to not only see the wall but also where he could leap/bang into it. Beauty.

I think you will start seeing the pitchers leaving early and Bochy using all the pitchers. I thought it was crazy for carrying so many pitchers but I’m starting to come around to the idea if it takes pressure off the starters.

The Oracle

I don’t claim to be psychic normally, but I’m predicting that Justin Christian isn’t going to get a hit.

Bochy’s Thunderskull

Blanco’s not an everyday player at the plate, but man, can he play D. Nice catch.

So the purpose of double switching Belt out was….what? Casilla is already out of the game. Now one of your best bats is gone and your defense is going to be a little weaker than it could have been at the end of a close game. Bochy is thinking so much his head might explode.

I hadn’t even considered the shrapnel, Oracle. I was thinking more in terms of Bochy being in the back seat of the Jules’ car in Pulp Fiction when Vincent Vega’s gun goes off. I mean, Mr. Wolf wouldn’t have even tried to get that cleaned up.

Matthew

Those South Park signs are epic….

Bochy’s Thunderskull

Bochy’s head was actually designed during the cold war. One day it may be decommissioned and the fuel used to power a nuclear reactor.

If you remember, Affeldt struggled a tad down the stretch in 2010… And then shut everyone up with a season extending performance against all odds in Philly.

So, many are showing little patience with him… He’s in a lull, but his stuff is still nasty. Give him a break.

cyan

More insurance runs…awesome!

Oil Can Boyd

On MLB network Mitch “knucklehead” Williams opined that the NL MVP will be either McCutcheon or Braun (Mr Synthetic Testosterone with a good lawyer). He said Braun will probably get it because Milwaukee is surging and Pittsburgh is faltering. Wild Thing must be too soused in the late evening to see the SF games and watch Posey, the true 2012 MVP.

WOW , some people on this board constantly talk about a person’s physical characteristics and issues. I’d love to see some of you guys in person so that I could right down my list of physical imperfections you guys might have. Nobody’s perfect. Not even you.

Matthew

So, who can tell us the Dodgers record since:

The Boston trade
The Hanley trade….

Inquiring minds want to know… Then again, what is the Giants record since:

The Scutaro trade
The Pence trade…

Foothills Ryan

Feeling pretty good ’bout my own predictive powers tonight.

I had it pegged at 8.5 to 3.5. Lincecum 6.1 IP, clean bullpen save. & a Dodgers loss.

don’t know if I can be this good every night, but feeling pretty good on this one.

Baldy, I’m with you on physical imperfections, but Bochy’s head size is a statistical anomaly, talking the far ends of the Bell curve. If he was 7’6″, then maybe there would be some normalcy, but the disproportionality of that cranium borders upon the fantastical.

Matthew

Foothills, if you are going to challenge the Oracle, you can’t do it with the name “Ryan”… A fine name in its own right, but certainly not enough gravitas when matched up to THE ORACLE… How about The Magnificient Savant from HIgh Upon the Mountains or something…

I’m so glad the Dodgers are going the other way, this should teach those clowns a lesson that you can’t just buy a WS. This includes you Earvin Johnson. They tried to buy EVERYBODY WHO WAS AVAILABLE at the trade deadline. Now they should feel real stupid.

Bochys methods work and we’re here complaining about it. Coors Field is Coors Field. Bochy keeps his pen in the same roles as if it was a one run game. Dgg is right and Baldy is even more correct about all you guyz not being able to refer to people by their real names. BB25 also had a big noggin 😀

Foothills Ryan

Matthew,

I think Idiot Savant would be cool handle. Not in a politically incorrect way. But if you were a poster without any social skills and had eerie predictive accuracy with an uncanny grasp of numbers.

Baldy, hold off on the Dodger gloating. There is plenty of time for them to somehow end up being wild card #2, and if memory serves, two teams have bought a world series travelling through the wild card.

I won’t lighten up, certain people here constantly talk about the players physical problems all the time. Bochy’s Head, Panda’s Fat Ass etc…… I like a good laugh just like the next person but it’s getting to the point where that’s all people talk about on this board. Pence’s eyeballs were talked about constantly when he first came here. Just give it a rest sometimes that’s all i’m saying.

Aroldis Chapman shut down for one week. The Giants “real” mvp’s might be /roeschner and his medical staff, training staff. Vogelsong m noissed some starts ? (1) and the rest of the four plus vogey mqde all theirs…

Foothills Ryan

Rest in peace.

pacman68

Phillies and Brewers are on a serious role. The Wild Card is going to be crazy. Every year there seems to be a team that collapses. I hope it’s not us. Keep winning guys.

I can’t stand Mitch Williams on ESPN, I also dislike John Kruk, those 2 guys despise the Gs for some reason. Kruk and Williams looked like someone had just slapped their momas when the Gs won the WS in 2010. Kruk couldn’t even get his words out for the post game show after the WS.

Oil Can Boyd

Thunderskull changes pitchers like a doctor who gives the patients preventive medicine (not Brett Pill) before they get sick. Its working!

South City Jim

I hope the Phillies don’t make it. That 3-headed monster of a rotation in a five game series is too scary. That said, life is good! 🙂

Bochy’s Thunderskull

Fair enough, Baldy. I just didn’t feel that the Bochy comments had crossed the line. I suppose its all a matter of personal taste, which is varied, to be sure.

I agree re: Kruk and Mitch Williams. Seeing them so flummoxed after the 2010 WS that they were at a loss for words was beautiful. Just beautiful.

BallZach

Timmy is back!

Lefty

Foothills: I wondered the same thing about Pagan pinch-hitting.

South City Jim: Yep. A red-hot Phillies team with that great rotation is scary. And it’s four-headed at the moment: Kyle Kendrick is their hottest pitcher. The Phils have a very cushy schedule (Marlins, Astros, Mets)–but a LOT of teams to jump over.

Timmy has been the best Giants’ starter since the All-Star Break. He isn’t dominant, but he’s keeping them in games. I’m proud of him. I’m hoping he gets into double-digit wins and in the 4’s in ERA by the end of the season. Both quite doable at this point.

The Oracle

Matthew…thank you for the earlier respect properly befitting an entity of my importance. I will now remind everyone of my spring training pronouncement that Zito should man up and retire because he had nothing left.

Lefty

Oracle: I think a lot of us were on that bus. I saw Zito pitch in spring training, and he was just awful. I truly thought he was done. We were predicting he’d be out of the rotation by June 1 at the very latest.

He fooled us all, and I’m happy to be wrong this time. I’m happy for him, too. I’ve always thought he was a good guy and rooted for him. I really hope “Big Game Barry” earns a spot on the postseason roster this year because he absolutely deserves it.

If it weren’t for Buster, I’d say Zito is Comeback Player of the Year, hands down.

The Oracle

I can kind of see the point made about discussing players’ physical imperfections. I’m guessing that the blog name of a certain contributor may indicate a past history of being personally subjected to head-related insults. Maybe we should focus on the positive….nah.

South City Jim

Not that it matters because there’s only one winner and Buster deserves it, but the three names that should be on this year’s Willy Mac Award ballot: Posey, Pagan and Zito.

Lefty, I hadn’t been paying attention but you’re right about Kendrick. Worley’s hit some kind of wall, but all you need is four in the post season.

dgg

Here are some interesting second-half on-the-road stats:

The Giants are 21-7 on the road since the All-Star break, which is the best road record in the NL.

Tim has won 5 of these 21 road starts (and consecutively as Alex informed us), with a 2.61 ERA. I know Tim in the wind-up vs. Tim in the stretch can look like 2 different pitchers, but maybe, just maybe, he’s been more dominant lately than any of us realize.

Irish

Matthew @ 209 – Foothill and The oracle are the same person

South City Jim

Timmy’s WHIP is probably just as bad the second half as the first half, but he’s doing WAY better with RISP. He needs to cut down on the walks, but he’s definitely headed in the right direction.

Best rested bullpen in the league. Only outliers in ERA are Mijares, to a degree and Mota, still up there since it ballooned early season. Check those figures again and ask yourself why SF is the saves leader. Five of the seven have ERA’s in the two-hundreds, ranging from Affeldt at a ‘lenient’ 2.91 to Romo’s stingy 2.08. Tough to score on these guys.

brabon99

never expected giants to be 7 games up at any time this season, let alone sept

hwighting

pablo is just eating away his millions. i would never sign him to a long term contract given that he’s proven that he cannot be trusted to do the right thing for his body and for his team.

brabon99

The 2013 tentative schedule, released by Major League Baseball on Wednesday, is a minefield for the Giants that includes the kind of trip that no West Coast team would want in late September.

Before they finish the season with a six-game homestand against the Dodgers and Padres, the Giants go to Los Angeles for four games, get a day off, then play six games in New York, – three each against the Mets and Yankees. The latter series will be the Giants’ first in the new Yankee Stadium.

In late June and early July the Giants play 33 games in 34 days, including a pitcher-killing trip that opens in Los Angeles then moves to Colorado for three and Cincinnati for four. When that trip ends July 4, the Giants start a three-game series at home against the Dodgers with no day off in-between.

The schedule is funky because of the new alignment with 15 teams in each league, requiring interleague games throughout the season.

The Giants will play Toronto twice, two games each at home and away. They also have a home-and-home with the A’s – at AT&T Park on May 27-28 and in Oakland on May 29-30.

The Giants open with three games at Dodger Stadium, April 1-3, then face St. Louis in their home opener April 5.

2holehitting

Williams is probably holding a grudge. He lost critical playoff games to the Giants and other teams. As the wild thing goes, he was not the finisher.

ClutchUp

BallZach says:
September 12th, 2012 at 9:49 pm 226..Timmy is back!

😀 I would not let ones guard down. Timmy has issues replicating his pitches thus if he reverts back to his balls below the strike zone being easy takes for the hitter – then – all there is to look for is above the strike zone fast ball mistakes.

LONG way to go yet … IF … they win the Pennant and IF they get past the 5 game round one … then lets talk ball 8)